The site of the proposed development is one of Anam's holdings in Arizona, the Willow Springs Ranch.  The Willow Springs Ranch is some 182,000 acres in size, of which Anam owns approximately 19,000 acres, the remainder being state trust land or federal land.

Pinal County Commissioners: Willow Springs is 'Speculative'

In October of 2000, Alex Arqueta of Remington Properties, presented a proposal to rezone the Anam holdings to the  Pinal County commissioners seeking their recommendation that the Pinal County board of supervisors hear the re-zoning request to allow development of all of the Anam holdings.
 

The Willow Springs site, highlighting the South Village development.  [click on image for larger view] The commissioners rejected the  proposal, characterizing it as "speculative".  However, the commissioners told Anam that a request for a smaller development might be looked on more favorably.  As a result, Anam has scaled back the re-zoning request.  A "Village" in Name Only The new, "scaled back" proposal is called called the "South Village" and consists of three separate parcels, some 4,600 acres in size.

The sheer scale of the proposed South Village of Willow Springs shows that the term "village" is being used only to market the development, and does not in any way indicate it's size.

Some Questions:

The sheer scale of the proposed South Village of Willow Springs brings key questions to mind --- including:

• Still speculative?

Do Anam Inc. and Remington Properties, L.L.C. really have the financial wherewithal to build the South Village of Willow Springs?  Is there really an intent to build this large development, or is this "scaled back version" also land speculation (e.g. rezone, then sell the land, rezone, then try to get investors, etc.)?
 
• Adequate Water Supply?

The South Village of Willow Springs is situated a few miles north of the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste dump and will pump water from the aquifer beneath Page-Trowbridge to meet the demands imposed by the South Village. 

Is there sufficient water to support a development the size of the South Village of Willow Springs, much less the size of the development at build out? 

One way to get an idea of the size of willow springs is to compare it with the size of other Arizona towns, other proposed developments as well as with the size of the aquifer that feeds it.

A Visual Comparison of Size
 

The South Village Compared to Anthem.  [click on image for larger view] The scaled back South "village" of Willow Springs is almost as large as Del Webb's Anthem  one of the largest housing developments ever built in Arizona. The size of theAnthem development is 5452 acres; the size of the South Village is 4,600 acres.  The figure shows the relative size of the South Village of Willow Springs as compared to a roughly equal portion of Del Webb's Anthem.  The image consists of a close up of the South Village of Willow Springs (the red areas) with a plan of Del Webb's Anthem scaled appropriately and placed next to the South Village. A Note on "Villages" Each of the different colored areas in the Anthem development are called "villages," with names like "Country Club" and "Parkside."  In other words, the 5,800+ acre development has been partitioned into parcels, each catering to a different econominc and age class.  Each of the parcels is called a "village."  Anam also uses the term "village' for subsections of its land.  However, the "villages" of Willow Springs are very much larger than the "villages" of Anthem.  The South "Village" of willow Springs, is 4,600 acres -- about the same size as 5 of the Anthem "villages."

Some Similarities and Differences Between Anthem and the South "Village" of Willow Springs Ranch
 

Since there are no rivers or creeks in Falcon Valley, all water must come from groundwater.  Mark Cross, a hydrologist hired by Remington Properties, confirmed that the water for the South "Village" of Willow Springs will come from the aquifer that lies to the south of the "village." 

In order to get a sense of the size of the aquifer it is necessary to view it in terms of the demand for water placed on the aquifer; that is, it is necessary to view the aquifer with respect to the communities which currently pump water from it.
 

[click on the image for a larger view] The map to the right shows the aquifer without the proposed SaddleBrooke Ranch and South Village developments, only the town of Oracle is shown..  Looked at on it's own, the aquifer appears adequately large.

 

The following images may assist readers to get a sense of the scale of the South "Village" of Willow Springs by comparing the size of the South "Village" with the size of various other Arizona cities and towns. 

The technique used is to use a portion of the map supplied by Remington Properties, cut out the area representing the South "Village",  then overlay it on appropriately scaled maps of various towns and cities in Arizona. This allows the portion of the city or town to show through the cut out area for the South "Village" of Willow Springs. The figures below illustrate the technique:
 

Portion of map showing the South "Village" of Willow Springs

Map with the area representing the South "Village" cut out

Map of South "Village" overlaid on map of San Manuel, allowing image of San Manuel map to show through and showing relative size of the South "Village" as compared to San Manuel

Except for the largest cities, most don't begin to fill the South "Village" of Willow Springs Ranch.
 

The South "Village" is much larger than Mammoth The South "Village" is much larger than San Manuel  The South "Village" is much larger than Oracle The South "Village" is much larger than SaddleBrooke The South "Village" is much larger than Catalina  The South "Village" is much larger than Florence

The South "Village" is much larger than Sun City Vistoso  The South "Village" is much larger than Oro Valley  The South "Village" is much larger than Casa Grande  Tucson is larger than the South "Village" Phoenix is larger than the South "Village"